Before the sun rose, Octavia was awake. In smaller, provincial towns like Ponyville, this fact would have aroused concern and confusion; in Canterlot, it was normal.The ponies in the mares' dorms at the Celestian Music Conservatory always awoke early, because the more hours you practiced, the better you were. It had taken a great deal of practice for the ponies to achieve the level of skill they needed to audition for the conservatory. Once they were accepted, the hours they needed to practice increased exponentially. Their sacrifices came with great loss, but also with great gain - their student body was the finest in the entire realm, an...